


Shivering

by yuji2000



Category: Gintama
Genre: Emetophobia, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 22:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18765631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuji2000/pseuds/yuji2000
Summary: The Shinsengumi's signature sadist seems oddly quiet today.





	Shivering

_Knock knock._ Hijikata tapped on Sougo's door. "Oi, Sougo, it's 8 already, wake up!"

There was no reply. Hijikata sighed. _Must be preparing another trick on me._ "I'm coming in," he said.

As he opened the door, the heat of the room radiated against Hijikata's cheeks. In the corner was Sougo in his bed. His cheeks, nose, and ears were flushed, his forehead trickled with sweat, and his breathing laboured and audible.

"Idiot!", yelled Hijikata. He looked at the heater, which had been turned up to it's maximum setting, and promptly unplugged it. He frantically opened the window, before leaning down over his bed and grasping at the buttons on Sougo's pajamas.

At this moment, Hijikata received a punch to the cheek.

"What are you doing?" said Sougo, in a harsh, steely tone.

"You were overheating."

"I never asked you to help. Leave and fall off a bridge, Hijikata-san."

_Come to think of it, a respiratory disease had been going around the Shinsengumi headquarters. Sougo had been a little subdued at dinner last night and left early, claiming he had a fever._

"Why was the heat turned up so high, Sougo?" asked the older man.

"I was shivering," he replied. "I was so cold."

"Sougo, it's only the beginning of autumn. You aren't usually this sensitive."

"Shut up, idiot Hijikata-"

Sougo was interrupted by a burst of cold wind at his window, which launched him into a coughing fit. "Oi, oi, get a hold of yourself!" called Hijikata, before rushing out of the room. When he returned with some water in his hand, Sougo had closed the window again. Hijikata opened it slightly. "Leave it open. You need to cool down." He handed him the glass of water. Sougo made no effort to protest and sipped gingerly until his breathing smoothed.

"Sougo, breakfast is getting cold. The mess hall will close soon. Get your ass over there."

"You're cruel, Hijikata-san." He smiled somewhat arrogantly. "Shouldn't you bring it to me?"

"Tch. I'm not your servant, you damn sadist."

Sougo chuckled under his breath. "Thanks, Hijikata-san, but I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat, moreso if you're sick. See you there."

Sougo groaned as Hijikata left the room. After finishing his glass of water, his sweating had subsided and the room was cool and temperate again. As he sat up, his throat tickled until another coughing fit arose. His muscles seemed determined not to cooperate today as he made his bed. No matter how he willed them, they would not seem to move with the strength and speed he needed them to. Sougo touched his cheeks and forehead. _Warm._ He had a fever. Some parts of his skin seemed to burn and others seemed warm like usual, yet the core of his body felt cold as he shivered. The trembling would not stop as he buttoned his uniform up. The process of dressing himself was painfully slow today, and his joints developed a ghostly pain the more he tried to force them to work like they did usually.

Sougo walked into the mess hall. The sunlight through the windows hurt his eyes. Even as he looked away, they distracted him. Yamazaki and a few others greeted him, but he could scarcely hear them. It was as if his mind was made of unpolished glass. He nodded in an attempt to be polite but did not answer verbally. They seemed to take no offense. Perhaps they remembered that he declared himself ill last night.

"Sougo! Finally up, I see," called Kondo. "It's not like you to sleep in so late."

"Good morning, sir," he answered with an apologetic bow of his head. "I won't do it again."

"Oh, now, don't be like that! It's not against the rules! But unfortunately, all the good stuff is gone and the rest is cold now. Still, please tuck in."

"Sougo," Hijikata said. A cigarette dangled between his lips as he stood behind Sougo with a bowl of steaming rice, topped with a raw egg, soy sauce, and a hideous amount of mayonnaise. "I got something for you."

Sougo sat down with a mild frown. "I never asked you for anything, Hijikata-san."

"Shut up."

Sougo took the bowl and a spoon from the center of the table, and began scooping the mayonnaise out of his meal.

"Oi, oi, what are you doing?" said Hijikata.

"Making my meal fit for humans," replied Okita. He then took a pair of chopsticks, and began to mix the egg, rice, and soy sauce together. Reluctantly, he began to eat it.

"Is it good?"

"Of course it is, Hijikata-san. But don't praise yourself or anything. No one can mess up tamago kake gohan. Except you, with your mayonnaise fetish."

"Be more appreciative, won't you?"

"I don't want to owe you anything. Also, please don't smoke in front of a sick person."

"Oh, sorry." Hijikata quickly extinguished his cigarette.

Sougo began to feel better as he was halfway through his meal, which wasn't very big in the first place. However, as he finished his last grains of rice, he began to feel worse than he had before. There was a peculiar stirring in his stomach. _Nausea. It was nausea._

"Hijikata-san, I need a bucket."

"A bucket?" The black haired man scratched his head. "Why a bucket?"

"Or a bag. I just-"

The shorter sandy haired man cupped his mouth and sprinted from the mess hall. "Sougo!" Hijikata ran after him. Sougo locked himself into a toilet stall and began to expel the contents of his stomach. As he flushed and stood up, the lights above began to appear much brighter. Painfully bright, in fact, as if they were boring holes through his eyes. It sent a sharp pain through his head. He looked down again and opened the door. To his dismay, his black haired superior had followed him. Hijikata reached out towards him.

"Sougo-"

"Leave me alone!" Sougo slapped his hand away, before collecting himself and speaking softly. "I'll be fine."

"It's just the mayonnaise," he added.

It's not that he had a complex about asking for help or of being weak. But he admitted to himself that he felt a slight sense of humiliation in being seen in this state. Especially by Hijikata, of all people. Sougo was the youngest of the Shinsengumi, and wanted to be taken seriously very much. He worked hard to maintain his image as the laid back, sadistic jester, unfettered by anything.

"Sougo, just tell me what's happening. A few of our men have been struck by this too, to the same severity."

Sougo didn't reply.

"I know you have a fever. Does your chest hurt? Your head?"

"I..." he began. "Yes. Both hurt. And I keep having migraines. I can't keep food down. This happened last night after dinner too."

 _So it wasn't the mayonnaise,_ the chainsmoker thought. "Do you feel better after throwing up?"

"No. And the light hurts."

Hijikata furrowed his brows. It sounded like it could be serious. "Go back to your room. I'll tell Kondo."

"Don't tell anyone," Okita hissed with a glare.

"He's probably figured it out anyway. It's to excuse you from service for today, and possibly the next few days."

Sougo stared at the ground. He felt an odd sense of defeat, though he dared not display this on his visage.

"Go back to your room. We'll call the town doctor. Take a nap or something."

Feeling he had no choice, he returned to his quarters. Sougo stripped off his uniform jacket and shoes and laid in bed. The wind was a bit warmer now, and the sun shrouded by some clouds. Still, he drew the curtains, just a bit, but left the windows open. He watched the curtains flutter in the wind, blinking for a second. By the time he opened his eyes again, an hour had elapsed.

The town doctor was an old man, with greyed hair and bad hearing. He asked Sougo lots of annoying questions, often followed with, "What? Speak up, boy, I can't hear you!" He took Sougo's temperature, confirming that he had a mild fever, and listened to his heartbeat and breathing through a stethoscope, stating that his airways were filled with phlegm. He also jotted down all of his answers. Then he stood outside the door, discussing the results with someone. Sougo strained to hear, hoping it'd be Kondo. Instead, he heard Hijikata's voice in reply.

"Is it serious?"

"No, no. It's just a respiratory bug that's been going around this part of town. It's only dangerous to the very young and the very old. Is Mr. Okita usually this frail?"

"No. He's actually one of the more robust of the Shinsengumi."

"How wonderful youth is! I thought he might be unable to keep up with you. Have you been feeding him enough? His arms look awfully thin. But some young men still manage to swing a sword like that."

"He's always been like that. But the other men have caught this disease too, so why did Sougo, a usually healthy man, get it much worse?"

"Sometimes people are unlucky. It should subside in a day or two. If it doesn't, that's when you need to panic."

The men walked somewhere else. Sougo could hear they were in the kitchen. The doctor was probably telling Hijikata how to administer the medicine he prescribed. Then, he heard the footsteps of one man, the doctor, leave headquarters. Unable to sleep again, Sougo listened to the footsteps of men walking through headquarters, of murmurs in bedrooms besides his, the door frames opening and closing to let civilians in and make their reports, and of men chanting as they trained with swords. Then he heard footsteps of that annoying bastard make his way back to his room.

Hijikata opened the door, precariously balancing a silver tray in his other hand. In the tray lay some medicinal herbs, some honey, a teapot, and a cup.

He rolled the herbs into a joint. "I'm gonna light the end and you're gonna smoke it, okay. You know how to hold it?"

"No way," the younger man replied. "I hate smoke."

Hijikata chuckled. "Thought so." He opened the teapot, placed the joint into a strainer, and closed the lid atop it. After a few minutes, he tipped the teapot and poured the tincture out into the cup, trickling in some honey and stirring it with a teaspoon. "It's ephedra and peppermint. Drink up."

Under Hijikata's watchful eye, Sougo drank the mixture. It tasted unpleasant, to say the least, but the honey and peppermint masked much of the bitterness. As he finished the tincture, he found he could take deeper breaths.

"Better?"

The blonde man nodded. 

"I can't give this to you all the time. The doctor said it's better not to mask the symptoms, but to let the illness run it's course. And you should stay in bed until the worst of it has passed."

"Hijikata-san, you should look after yourself more."

"What, me?" Hijikata scoffed. "I'm fine."

"You're a smoker. If you get infected from me, it'll suck worse for you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, that's what the old man told me too. Said it was a disgusting habit, hideous for my health. I've been fine all these years."

Sougo stared out the window, lifting the curtains. "Hijikata-san, I can't stay in bed for all these days. I'm gonna be bored."

Hijikata felt nervous at the sadistic undertone in Sougo's voice. He knew the younger man was going to have too much time plotting over how to make his superior's life hell when he recovered. He gulped.

"Deal with it, then."

Hijikata left the room. That evening, Kondo came with dango and Yamazaki with anpan. The day after, Sougo's fever had subsided, and he could easily cough up phlegm. His migraine had faded and he could now handle a bit of sun. He could still only have paltry, tasteless meals, and his appetite had not returned in full force, but still he ate. And the day after that, he was well enough to walk around headquarters. After three days, he could eat normally again and return to most of his duties. The residual pain in his chest prevented him from being too physically active, so he had to take frequent breaks during morning training sessions and was restricted to patrolling low risk areas and taking calls (and complaints) from civilians, but other than that, he was fine. After a week, he was fully recovered.

However, the men who were originally not sick at the beginning had now been infected by the ones that were. Kondo and Yamazaki were both sniffling and coughing at the slightest draft of wind. And Hijikata? _Well, can't say I didn't warn him,_ is what Sougo thought, as he saw Hijikata fall into a violent coughing fit after a smoking session. Unfortunately, at least for him, this also delayed Sougo's antics. He was a sadist but he curtailed himself to hurting the fit and healthy and those who could afford to be hurt. In fact, he decided to help Hijikata. 

On the second day of Hijikata's illness, which was usually the worst for most people, Okita presented him the tincture Hijikata had made for him.

"I don't need it," he said through a cough. "Save it for those who need it the most."

"Hijikata-san, your smoker's lungs are so tired from coughing that you'll probably cough blood soon. You do need it most."

Hijikata grumbled and downed the tea in one shot. Instantly, he was struck by an urge to expel it. Stupidly, he swallowed it before he could consciously choose not to.

"Sougo! What did you do?"

"Nothing," the young man said with an innocent looking smile. "I decided to forgo the honey. The sugar is not necessary, is it?"

"Well, I suppose it-"

Hijikata damn near collapsed as he began to cough heavily. After a minute or so, the coughs showed no sign of subsiding, and he was on the verge of vomiting. The two were already outside, so he ran to the edge of the garden, behind a nondescript tree where he began to heave. After a few minutes, the coughing subsided and all he had got rid of was mucus. Still, Hijikata felt a distinct dizziness overtaking his mind. Behind him, Okita was looking away, probably trying to hide his amusement.

He growled and stood up, grabbing his subordinate by the collar, pulling him up to face him. "I'll ask again, brat: What did you do?"

Sougo smiled again. "I added a little expectorant in there. Your lungs are nice and clear now, aren't they, Hijikata-san?"

"A little? It didn't seem like a little!"

"A little of the most powerful I could find, yes. It's my thanks for you looking after me."

Hijikata let go of his collar, pushing him back. Usually, this was the part he drew his sword and/or started chasing after the boy, but he knew if he did, the exertion would cause another coughing fit and would only further humiliate him. He simply scowled and walked away. But at the sound of a faint laugh from under Okita's breath, Hijikata broke into a sprint after him, before predictably collapsing only halfway across the building.

It appears things were back to normal in the Shinsengumi.

**Author's Note:**

> Tamago kake gohan means "egg over rice" and is a popular breakfast dish in Japan. It's a raw egg stirred in rice. It's usually seasoned with a bit of soy sauce. An expectorant is a medication that helps one to cough up phlegm. Overdosing on them may cause dehydration, kidney problems, and digestive problems. Ephedra was a medicinal herb used to relieve respiratory conditions. It opens up the airways and made breathing easier, but it also sped up metabolism, worsening a fever and causing multiple neurological and digestive symptoms. For that, I'd like to advise readers to not try this at home.


End file.
